OAKLAND — A candidate running to be the next Alameda County auditor-controller said she is withdrawing from the race after being arrested earlier this month on six felony fraud charges.

Kathleen Knox’s name is still on the June 3 ballot but she said in an emailed statement that she is “officially and respectfully” withdrawing her candidacy.

“The distractions of the current events have become overwhelming and my focus now needs to be entirely on my family, my business and my private life,” Knox wrote.

Knox, who owns and operates the Rose Gate assisted living home in San Leandro, admitted to this newspaper that she does live at the senior home despite listing it as her home address on election and voting documents. The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office later arrested her at a house she owns in Danville and charged her with lying about her residency to run for office and illegally voting in the 2012 presidential election in San Leandro while living in Contra Costa County.

Knox pleaded not guilty to the charges on May 6 and her lawyer initially said she would stay in the race.

Her departure less than three weeks before the election and after some voters have already mailed back their ballots leaves only one candidate, Steve Manning, who has worked in the Alameda County auditor’s office for 27 years and as chief deputy auditor for 12.

In a statement dated Friday and emailed Sunday, Knox thanked her supporters and family members, especially her children, uncle, father — who is a former Alameda County treasurer and supervisor — and grandmother “who instilled in me the belief that public servitude is an honor and not an entitlement.”

“I continue to believe in strong and honest government; this includes the electoral process for which I am so grateful to have been a part of,” she wrote. “As the first woman to run for this position and the first person to challenge this position in almost 30 years, I only hope that I am not the last.”

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